


Already Came True

by JoMouse



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 03:03:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16467428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Liam's birthday just sucks this year.Until it doesn't.





	Already Came True

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-indulgent piece of something I wrote because I was having a miserable birthday and wished mine would turn out better. So, in my story, Liam's did.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Liam used the remote to skip to the next episode, sighing when he realized he’d managed to watch ten episodes of the television show without really taking in anything that he’d been watching. He glanced down at his phone, noting the time and sighing again. Five more hours and his birthday would be over and he couldn’t wait. He’d been looking forward to his birthday, as he did every year, but when it arrived and the hours began to pass, he felt his mood growing darker until he just wished it was over or that something or someone would fix it.

He always thought people liked him, that he had friends, people who cared about him, but as he sat, alone, on his birthday, he began to wonder if that was actually true. He got all the Facebook messages, squinting as he tried to place a couple of the names, people he hadn’t thought about since school ended. He got texts from his mum and sisters, but they’d celebrated over the weekend with a lunch squeezed into everyone’s busy schedules, so they weren’t physically around.

He’d grabbed lunch earlier with Andy, but he’d had to run off after less than an hour to a dentist appointment he’d forgotten he’d made, leaving Liam sitting alone eating the complimentary dessert he’d been given. He arrived back at his flat, surprised to find his flatmate, Louis, gone. The note left behind announced the lad was off working on a project for one of his classes and wouldn’t be back until late. Liam settled onto the sofa, starting up the television and hitting play on the first thing that came up.

As the show played, he scrolled through his phone, playing games and enjoying the quiet. At first. Then as the sky outside the flat darkened, casting shadows over the interior of the flat, his mind began to darken with it. Voices flooding in, voices that sounded an awful lot like the kids who had bullied him when he was in school.

_ “How pathetic are you that no one wants to spend your birthday with you?”  _

_ “You don’t have any friends, you worthless loser.” _

It wasn’t long before he couldn’t stop the tears and just sat there and let him fall. He tried to muster a smile when Loki came up and began nosing at his hands, whining until Liam gave up and grabbed his lead. He clipped it onto Loki’s collar and left the flat, trying to smile at the dog as he pranced his way down the street, but failing. When the rain began, Liam was thankful because it hid his wet eyes and cheeks from the passersby.

It didn’t take long before the rain had him completely soaked, Loki beginning to lose his energy and glancing up at Liam with sad eyes. Looking around, Liam spotted a coffee shop he knew welcomed pets, having been there a time or two before. The lights glowed through the mist of the rain, almost welcoming. Scooping Loki up under one arm, he hurried across the road and to the door, pulling it open, sighing as the warm air and smell of coffee wafted out into his face.

He set Loki down as soon as they stepped in, regretting his decision as soon as the dog began to shake, splattering water everywhere. “Shit,” he muttered, grabbing for him, stopping when a towel dropped on top of Loki’s head. Without glancing up, Liam muttered his thanks and began drying Loki off, rubbing vigorously at his fur, stopping only when the dog whimpered and pulled away.

Once Loki was dry, he rose back to his feet, startled when another towel was dropped over his head. Sputtering, he pulled the towel off and blinked as he came face to face with what had to be a hallucination. No one could be as beautiful as the man standing in front of him, black hair pulled back into a top knot, piercings glittering from his nose and ears, a bright green apron covered black clothing that failed to cover numerous tattoos. Liam swallowed hard, having lost his voice.

“Gonna dry yourself off?” the man asked, reaching for the towel Liam had used on Loki and disappearing into the back of the shop. 

As soon as he was gone, Liam’s body started cooperating and he reached up to dry his own hair, thankful he’d gotten it cut recently and wasn’t dripping everywhere. He couldn’t say the same for his hoodie and sweatpants. He groaned as he realized he was dressed like a complete slob, but his attired had matched the darkness of his birthday so he hadn’t bothered changing before leaving the flat.

He’d just finished drying his hair and face, fruitlessly trying to dab at his clothing when the man appeared again, holding out a mug of coffee. “Hope you like coffee. If not, I’ll grab you something else?” 

“It’s perfect,” Liam responded, taking the mug carefully and sipping from it, trying to school his face against the bitter taste and failing.

“Perfect?”

“Well, maybe a bit of sugar would make it a bit perfecter,” Liam admitted, cheeks growing warm as the man laughed, gesturing for Liam to follow him as he made his way to the counter.

Liam settled onto one of the tall stools and took the sugar packets offered to him. He glanced around for Loki, suddenly remembering the dog, and found him sniffing a black sharpei. “That’s Boris. He’s harmless.”

“Mine’s Loki. He’s energetic but sweet,” Liam told him. “I’m Liam.”

“Nice to meet you, Liam. I’m Zayn and I have to get back to work,” he said as the bell above the door jangled and more people came hurrying in from the rain, shaking umbrellas and removing coats.

Liam sipped at his coffee and watched Zayn work, smiling anytime the man looked over at him, giving an eye roll or a cheeky wink. He burst out laughing, slapping a hand over his mouth to stop the sound when the whipping cream canister exploded, covering Zayn in white. He refused to allow his mind to go down the road of what exactly it looked like, hiding his flush behind the mug and realizing it was empty. 

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the rain had stopped, so he figured it was time to head home. He caught Zayn’s attention and waved him over, intending to pay for his coffee and the dog biscuits he’d spotted the man slipping to Loki over the past hour, but stopping when Zayn refilled his mug and set a plate down with a large scone on it. “White chocolate raspberry scone fresh from the oven,” he said, smiling and disappearing before Liam could even thank him.

As the evening wore on, Zayn was able to come over and chat with Liam a bit more, the two of them getting to know each other and discovering they actually had quite a bit in common. They argued playfully about comics and music, shared stories about their families, and rolled their eyes as they shared stories of their friends. Every time Liam made a move to leave, Zayn brought more or another drink that had been made wrong. At some point, Loki and Boris had curled up in a dog bed behind the corner, snoring loudly and chasing rabbits as they slept.

Finally, after Liam was certain he couldn’t eat one more bite, he watched Zayn walk over and flip off the open sign and locked the door. “You don’t have to rush out,” he told Liam. “I just don’t need anyone else walking in.”

“I should be going. I’ve already taken so much of your time.” He pulled his wallet out and opened it. “How much do I owe you?” 

“On the house, mate,” Zayn told him.

“No, come on. You served me half the menu,” Liam argued. 

“You looked like you needed it when you came in and my mum would’ve been disappointed if I hadn’t fed you,” he explained.

Liam pulled out all the cash in his wallet. It wasn’t much, not nearly enough to pay for everything he’d consumed, but he shoved it at him. Zayn pushed the money back but Liam insisted so Zayn took it, snatching his wallet at the same time. Liam huffed indignantly as he reached for it, Zayn dancing away and shoving the notes back inside, freezing as he stared at something. Liam took advantage of his distraction and grabbed the wallet back, taking out the notes and shoving them into the tip jar, shaking it up so that Zayn couldn’t tell what Liam had put in and what he’d earned over the night.

Liam smiled triumphantly as Zayn turned and disappeared into the back. After he’d been gone for a couple of minutes, his triumph began to sour as he realized he might have actually offended the man. He was debating following him into the back when the door swung open again, revealing Zayn carrying a plate with a single cupcake in the center. A candle burned on top, Zayn’s hand cupped around it as he walked to keep it from blowing out.

Zayn sang softly, his voice beautiful and filling Liam with awe, finishing the song just as he reached Liam and held the plate aloft for him to blow out the candle. “Make a wish,” he told him.

“Already came true,” Liam murmured blowing out the candle and then running a finger through the icing before running it down Zayn’s cheek. His grin grew until it forced his eyes shut as Zayn burst into laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://josjournal.tumblr.com). I love meeting new people!


End file.
